So, I absolutely LOVE my house. It is perfect for us and my husband is such a rockstar that he encourages me to do whatever I want...and always tells me he loves it! And not only tells me he loves it, helps do it! He's great.

Anyways, like I said I love my house. But I wish I could pick a kitchen out of one of those home and garden magazines and plop it down on top of mine. My kitchen is straight out of 1950. Yellow tiled counter tops, crazy flourescent lights, sturdy pine cabinets with ancient hinges and pulls, and a monsterous oven that I'm finally beginning to fall in love with. We knew that the kitchen was the one place we'd really need to do some updating, and I'm beyond excited that now is the time!!!

Tomorrow our electrician is coming to put in some recessed lights (I'm beyond excited) and Monday, the painter comes to get busy on the cabinets!

We talked a lot about replacing them, but these cabinets are actually amazing custom cabinets. All of the bottom cabinets have pull out shelves or racks, and all of the shelves are super adjustable. And knowing us, we'd be replacing them with the cheapest thing we could find...all in the name of updating the kitchen. After doing our research and pricing things, we decided that really, the best thing would be just to paint the mothers and put some new hardware on, which has been super fun to plan. So tonight I'll post the before pictures. Next week, I'll post the after...woohoo!!

To start off with, I was sick and I hate working out when I'm sick. I mean, who likes it? So my working out was limited to a walk on Tuesday and a swim on Friday. Not the best, I know.

Speaking of my swim on Friday, let me tell you a little more about swimming at the YMCA. Each time I've been lately, there has been a water aerobics class going on. The class is called the Silver Swimmers...so basically it's a bunch of old ladies splashing around, wearing their shower caps and absolutely loving it! Last week, I got there while the Aqua Fit class was going on. All of the Silver Swimmers were there waiting...and the class didn't start for a good 45 minutes! They were just hanging out around the pool, chatting it up! It was funny. On Friday there was one other person below the age of 65 and as I rested for my 12 breaths at the end of the pool, he commented on how remarkable it is that they are able to make the Y look exactally like a retirement home in Florida! Classic.

Eating wasn't too good this week either. The afore mentioned cooking class kicked off my trash days. Yes, trash days, plural. Unfortunately, trash day lasted from about Thursday night until Sunday night. Not too good for the healthy lifestyle I'm trying to create!!

Oh well, a new week, a new start! I'm off on a walk this afternoon and to the Y tomorrow! Wish me luck!

It used to REALLY bug me when I would see random shopping carts sprinkled all over the Target parking lot. I mean, surely you can take your cart and put it where it belongs. Not that hard, people! Well, it is that hard when you have a baby. The choices are, leave the cart in the parking lot or leave my baby in the car and truck across the parking lot to put the cart away. I try my hardest to park close to one of the cart drop off thingies, but sometimes I forget! And every once in a while, my moral thinking kicks in hard and if I spot a drop off semi close, I'll make a dash for it and put the cart away. But making sure Jack is not snatched is much more important to me than taking my cart to the drop off spot. So, moral of the story, don't judge people who leave the carts in the Target parking lot, or you might just be judging me!

I used to take so much pride in taking my cute reusable grocery bags to Target to save myself a lofty $0.20 and not to mention the PLANET!!!!! Come on, guys, why in the world you chance getting that one lady who puts a maximum of 3 things in each bag, leaving you to walk out of Target with a at least 27 plastic grocery bags! Well, now I am that person. Since Jack's been around, I'm lucky if I can make it out of the house with out forgetting my wallet, and remembering to snag my reusable bags is just a brief afterthought once I'm crossing I35. To which I say, "Oh well," and realize that I now have to take responsiblilty for global warming, the killing of the dolphins, and many other various assundry things that I saw on the news but can't remember right now.

In the past 5 years, I have signed us up for 3 different cooking classes at Central Market. The two classes before...didn't happen. The first time there was a big storm system coming in and Jeff ended up having to go to work. The second time, we got an invite to a last minute birthday party. So, Central Market owed me! Both times, I didn't cancel in time to get any of my money back! This time, I crossed my fingers that nothing would come up and promised myself I'd cancel before we lost our money, and as luck would have it, we made it to the class! And we had so much fun!!! We got there a little late and almost didn't get to sit together. To which Jeff says, "Well, I'm just leaving if we don't get to sit together!" Thankfully, a man who came by himself and had an extra seat next to him heard Jeff and offered to move. Sweet!

The class was taught by Jon Bonnell, who owns a few restaurants in Fort Worth, and he was super nice and entertaining.

The theme was "Taste of the Big Easy" and was all about creole cooking, which I knew very little about. Basically, what I know about it now, is that they use a lot...and I mean a LOT of butter! I probably ate a stick of butter last night. Yummy! Eating healthy be damned! I enjoyed every last tablespoon of it. Jeff spent a few years working in Shreveport and loves creole food, and Jon didn't disappoint.

He started with a super yummy crab cake, then a sausage stuffed pork tenderloin, followed by some delicious shrimp, smoked beef tenderloin, and bananas foster for dessert. The best part, by far, was the shrimp. Half of my stick of butter came from that dish. The shrimp were super tender and the sauce...I could have drank it in a glass!

Someone cooking for you while you watch, sip on wine, and listen to him tell stories about Mardi Gras and such...doesn't get much better than that!!

So, starting last Thursday, Jack has been snotty. Not with an attitude (give that a few years!) but like snot in his little nose! It's terrible to listen to him breathe. So, Friday I called the Dr and they said to squirt some saline up his nose and suction it out with this torture device.

Needless to say, he doesn't like it! I told him I understood and then explained my experience with the netti pot...

Well, I didn't feel like it was getting any better, so I called again on Monday and they said to go ahead and bring him in. So we went in Monday morning, and after being in the waiting room for an hour, I had already decided that he wasn't nearly as sick as the rest of these kids and I should have just stayed home! But oh well, we were here, so we waited.

I told the Dr when he came in that this was probably more of a first time mom visit than an actual sick visit...but he's nice and just laughed as he checked out the little one. Jack's 4 month appt was scheduled for Wednesday, but since we were already there, he went ahead and did the 4 month assessments! Good times. I LOVE finding out how much weight he has gained and how much he's grown! And since his last visit, we've done the formula transition, translating to mean, Jack has actually gotten to eat for the past 2 months! No more trying to get water from a rock, so to speak...

So, he weighs 13lbs 15oz which is great! He's in the 25th percentile for his age. That's up from the 10th percentile at 2 months!!!! So he's gained 4 lbs 7oz! Yay! He's also grown an inch and a half, which is great. They also measure the circumference of their head each time. Until now, I didn't know why...

So they measure his head and it's like 17 inches or something, which puts him in the 90th percentile. I'm thinking, oh, how cute! He has a big head! It's to hold all of that knowledge! Well, apparently, it's not all big head fun and games. The Dr was a little concerned. I guess the past few times, his head has been closer to the 50th or 60th percentile and this was quite a jump. He told me not to worry (um, ok) but he was going to set up an appointment at Cook's to have a sonogram done of his head, just to make sure everything is ok.

Since Jack still has his soft spot, a sonogram is pretty easy. Had we waited until his 6 month appt to see the progress of it all, he would have to have an MRI done, which they have to be sedated for. Not fun. But with the sonogram, they can see just what they can see with the MRI, so here we go.

Wednesday afternoon Jeff, Jack and I made our way up to Cook's. I have to say, we were super nervous. The way I know I'm nervous is I want to eat. I told Jeff on Tuesday night that I wanted to go eat a big ole hamburger with extra fries and ranch dressing to dip them in. And while that sounds very good, that was totally nerves. And no, I didn't get one.

We learned through all of this that the brain produces spinal fluid and there's a tube that drains the spinal fluid from the head down to the spine. The concern was that Jack's tube was blocked and the spinal fluid was just staying around his brain. Which would not be good.

Jack wasn't a huge fan of the sonogram on the head...he pretty much screamed and wiggled the whole time as I tried to hold him still so the tech could get some good pictures. And I couldn't help but wonder how parents who have sick children do it. What would it be like to see your child in pain all the time? Walking down the halls of Cook's and seeing all of those hurting children...broke my heart. I couldn't help but wonder if Cook's would be our new home. And that was super scary.

Knowing that God is good and no matter what He will take care gave us some comfort, but waiting for the results was not easy. We thought we might hear from the Dr on Wednesday afternoon, but didn't. Thursday morning I was at Jack's playgroup when I got the phone call. Dr F started off by saying he'd gotten the results yesterday afternoon, but wasn't sure about some of the wording on the report and wanted to consult another radiologist and a neurologist before calling. My heart was racing, as you can imagine! His next words were, "Now, I know your heart is racing so before I tell you anything else, I want you to know that Jack is ok." Whew. There was no blockage in the drainage tube, which is fabulous news. There was an "incidental finding" of a little extra fluid in his head, but both the radiologist and neurologist concurred that it was nothing to worry about. He said we would proceed as if everything is ok and check again at his 6 month appt. If his head size, percentile wise, has increased, he would bring him in for an MRI, but until then, he said not to worry.

I have to say, I'm relieved, but not quite over my worry. Again, I know God is good, and worrying does no good, but I still worry. Jack is right where he needs to be developmentally, which makes me feel good, and has no other symptoms of anything being wrong!

I guess a mom just worries. But today, praise the Lord for my precious, healthy little boy!

Time to report in! Ok, last week was a good one, a little harder, but that's to be expected. The newness is gone, it's not quite as fun to not eat the whole bag of Cheeto's. I did buy baked ones...and the Flamin' Hot ones, which truly do help with portion control. See, once you're done with one serving of the Flamin' Hot Cheeto's, your mouth is on fire and there's no possible way you'd want to eat more. See how that works? So, I went to the gym twice...once to swim and I have to admit, I forgot how much energy it takes to swim! I was TIRED half way through my planned workout! So, I didn't quite make it to the end. Oh well, better than nothing, right? And at the Y, it's a little awkward to get from the locker room to the pool. At my other gym, the locker room was attached to the pool so it was easy! Here, you put on your bathing suit and walk down the hall into the basketball gym to get on an elevator and it takes you down to the pool. A little awkward when there is a big ole' basketball game going on.

My second day at the gym was the elliptical and treadmill. Not too bad! My goal this week is to go a little further on both. Only problem is that I'm tracking the "how much time I have left" pretty much constantly at this point. We'll see how that goal goes.Eating was super good. I found this amazing app for my iphone that I can count my calories on (I'm so far from OCD but I LOVE this amazing way to track my food) and it's just the best thing ever. It's called myfittnesspal and it has a database of a ton of food, like it even has I Can't Believe it's Not Butter in it! Yes, I know I Can't Believe it's Not Butter is not butter because it's full of chemicals, but a girl's got to do what a girls got to do when she's trying to loose a small child worth of weight! You can also track your work outs and it gives you a few extra calories for the ones you burn for the day. I heart it. So, eating was great, loved my trash day, which consisted of a grilled cheese from Mimi's (oh-em-gee, they are amazing) and Pei Wei for dinner. Yum!I will say, getting to the gym with a small child to work around is not easy. It's not easy and I even have a husband who is home from work around 11am! So, I'm learning I'll have to be flexible on the whole 3 times to the gym for the week. Over all, great week! Woohoo! And PS, I will not be weighing myself for a month or so...it's too painful to deny myself gorging on the whole bag of Cheeto's only to see that it only lost me a half a pound this week. I like big results...and that means waiting quite a while to weigh in! Jus in case you were wondering...

One thing motherhood continues to teach me is...don't judge other moms!! Good Lord. I never knew how many things I had an opinion on until I've been forced to change so many of them!

Until about 2 weeks ago, I hated it when babies randomly wore bibs. They're not eating anything, why do they need a bib? I was even secretly annoyed when people gave me small bibs as baby gifts. Why? They're only using a bottle! Who needs a bib when you're just taking a bottle?

Well, my son does. He leaks more than any running faucet. It's out of control. So, the choice is, slap a bib on that baby, or change his clothes 900 times a day. Obviously, I busted out the small bibs that I'd stored away to regift, and he's had one on pretty much constantly lately.

I mean, check out this tummy time drool!! It is literally out of control.

I braved the freezing cold and went walking with some girlfriends on Tuesday, which was nice! Jack went along and was relatively happy...I took off the top shade last time we took the stroller to the mall and forgot to snap it back on before we left for our walk. I think he would have been happy the whole time if the sun wasn't blazing in his poor little eyes for half of the walk!!

Skipped the gym on Wednesday for some fellowship with other moms from my church, which was well worth it. I invited over 6 moms with babies between the age of 2 weeks and 8 months! It was so fun and such a blessing to be surrounded by ladies who are right where I am. And such a blessing to talk freely about poop and which diapers catch it best, breastfeeding successes and failures, excitement about the next baby milestones and what it's like to learn to be a daughter, sister, wife and mother all at the same time. Anyways, didn't make it to the gym, but oh well! Priorities, people!

I did spend some quality time with the elliptical and treadmill on Thursday and actually kinda enjoyed it! I'm writing this down so I can remember saying "I had a good time at the gym!" I seriously did. It felt really good to work out!!! I do remember this feeling from being a gym rat before. The build up and actually getting dressed and driving to they gym is TORTURE but once I'm there, it feels really good! Go figure.

I did a great job on my eating, too! I scaled back to a 1350 calorie goal and did quite well! Whenever Jeff and I are really making an effort to eat well, we designate one day to be a "trash" day where there are no calories counted and you can basically eat anything and everything you want! It's wonderful. And by the end of the day, you want to puke and remember why you need to eat healthy! So, Saturday was trash day which was very yummy...

Jack has stopped rolling. Why? I'll put him on his tummy, and he'll sit there, all content to just look in the mirror with little interest in rolling. He'll even get mad about being on his tummy and start to fuss. Really? Don't be an indian giver, Jack. And yes, do think it's politically incorrect to say 'indian giver' but I grew up in East Texas...'indian giver' is the least of my politically incorrect worries.

I'm actually surprised it's taken this long. I walked in the living room the other day and saw stuffing on the floor. This isn't too unusual, every time Vincent gets a new toy, the squeaker is popped and there is stuffing all over the floor with in 23 minutes. He's a pro and if there were a competition for such things, he would surely win. Anyways, the thing about this is that Vincent hasn't had a new toy for...um, how old is Jack now? Sixteen weeks? Ok, Vincent hasn't had a new toy in 16 weeks. I know, it's shameful and I hate it, but poor Vincent hasn't had a new toy in a while. Recently he's been eyeing Jack's stuffed toys. Now, Vincent knows which toys are his and which aren't. You might not believe me, but I used to sleep with a stuffed bunny that had a chicken attached to it's ear (strange, I know) and the chicken even had a squeaker in it...but Vincent knew it was not his and no matter how many people tortured him by squeaking that squeaker, Vincent did not touch it, because he knew it was not his! Well, apparently Vincent had suffered the negelctful-ness long enough and needed to get out some frustrations and remind us that he's still here. Poor owl.

What would a new year be with out a resolution or two! And that's what I've got. Two.

First off, sweet little Jack wasn't kind to my aging figure. See, the weigh-ins when you're pregnant are deceiving. It's the first time in your life where you're supposed to have gained weight when you step on the scale! And then you start thinking, "Oh, good! I gained a pound!" Well, when you say that for 40 consecutive weeks, that's a problem! A big fat problem!! And I might have to say that I have a little (ok, a lot of) hate for the woman who has a baby and 3 days later looks like she's just won a beauty pageant. Um, not me. No, my body doesn't work like that. Lucky me.

Maybe it was Jack or maybe it was the wild obsession with hamburgers that piled on the pounds! Either way, I'm looking to take off 30-40 lbs this year. Lofty? Yes. But I've done it before. Not easily, but I've done it before.

Today started my new "lifestyle". Can't call it a diet and work out plan...those never last. But the plan is that this will! So I'm going to the gym Monday, Wednesday and Friday, and I am really going to stick to it! As much as this hamburgers are sticking to my thighs! So, 1600 calorie diet (sans hamburgers) and 3 days a week at the gym. That's the plan.

We joined the YMCA last week and today was my first visit. First off, I was given a tour by a 400 lb man. I'm not joking. We took the elevator from one level to the next. And I was nervous we wouldn't make it. I'm not sure if I would want to work at the Y and see people working out all around me if I were that man! Anyways, I got busy on the elliptical (my legs already feel like noodles!) and the treadmill, working off those hamburgers one by one. Good times.

You should know that I really despise working out. I know, most people don't like it, but I truly despise it. But I've decided I don't despise it as much as I despise trying to button my pants these days!! The one thing that I don't mind doing is swimming. I think it's because I trick myself into thinking that since sweat is not dripping down my face, I'm not working out! Whatever psychological trick works...yes squeezing into a bathing suit will not be fun, but remember I get to walk past the 400 lb man on the way to the locker room, and that gives me a little motivation! Take care of these hamburgers NOW!

Day one of the "eating plan" was good...until we had friends over to watch the TCU bowl game (sad story) and ordered pizza. Ok, I'll admit. I had two too many pieces, but tomorrow is a new day and the pizza will be no more!! It wasn't fair to have so much temptation in the form of left over pizza on the first day!!

I said I had two resolutions (working off the hamburgers and not eating so many hamburgers) but really I have three. The last and ultimately most important is to sit down and spend time with the Lord each day. Seems like the easiest of the three...I don't have to avoid pizza or sweat, but I am so lacking in discipline that it, too, will be a struggle!! I have so many things to be thankful for and it's completely sinful that I don't take the time to sit before the One who has blessed me so.

So, wish me luck!! I'll try to update you each Monday on how it's going...Heir to Blair is calling it "McFatty Monday" so prepare for me to overshare on my quest to loose the hamburgers!